Ode to George Carlin
}} |} | class="iumb-hidable-button" | |} Ode to George Carlin is the third episode of Season 1 of Sodor: The Modern Years. Plot One drizzly afternoon in 2009, Geoff observes to Ivo Hugh that Duncan seems a bit down that day. Ivo Hugh replies that Duncan's favourite comedian 'passed away'. Duncan, who arrives just in time to hear this, angrily corrects Ivo Hugh, stating that the comedian "didn't pass away. He died, that's what happened!". Geoff asks who the comedian is, and Duncan says his name was George Carlin. The works diesel then asks how Duncan came to know this George Carlin, and advises that he has time to listen, as he has to wait for Tornado to come through with the express. Duncan then recounts how, in 1998, he returned from work one day to find some of the workmen, as well as the other engines, watching George Carlin performing on TV. Some of the engines like him, some don't. Duncan finds the performance oddly enthralling, and is soon laughing along at the jokes. As time goes on, Duncan gets to see more of Carlin's performances. The other engines also start to 'come around', and listen to Carlin's work. One morning, in 2009, Duncan and Rheneas are discussing recent events on the North-West Railway. Rheneas observes that one of Duncan's comments is reminescent of George Carlin, and this gets Duncan thinking. He hasn't heard anything from Carlin in a while, and he asks his driver about it when the latter arrives. Duncan's driver informs him that George Carlin passed away, last year. We come back to the present, and Duncan informs Geoff those events happened that morning. Tornado arrives with the express. Once he departs, Geoff leaves as his line is now clear. Duncan is in mourning for the rest of the day, and the other engines give him space. That evening, after they finish the day's work, Duncan's driver remembers something else, which he hopes will cheer Duncan up. He tells Duncan that he thinks "George Carlin liked you too." Duncan is surprised by this, but his driver only tells him to wait and see what he means. The next morning, Duncan is surprised to see his driver arrive, as they're supposed to have the day off. His driver's granddaughter, Clair, is also with him. Duncan's driver brings up the TV series, and Duncan replies that he doesn't really care much for it. Clair then shows Duncan the episode 'Home at Last', with the American narration. Duncan is surprised to hear George Carlin's voice telling the story. This changes Duncan's opinion of the TV series, and he watches all of the episodes narrated by Carlin. A week or so later, the Thin Controller comes to see Duncan. He tells him that his twin on the Tallylyn Railway has been repainted to look like him, and asks if Duncan would like to do the same. Duncan instead asks to be painted in the livery he has in the TV series, as a tribute to George Carlin. The Thin Controller agrees. A couple of days later, Duncan's repaint is done. The other engines are a bit shocked by the bright paint, at first, but they understand why Duncan chose that colour. It's something they can't argue with. Category:Episodes Category:Sodor: The Modern Years Adapted from the Comic As mentioned in the episode titles and video description, this episode is adaptation of this comic by NickInAmerica on Deviantart. NickInAmerica (aka NickOnAquaMagna) also provided the voices for George Carlin and Duncan. There are a few differences from the comic, the main one being the inclusion of Geoff the works diesel. In the original comic, the story starts in the 1990s, before the new millennium dawns. However, as STMY season 1 takes place in 2009, this first part of the narrative needed to be told as a flashback. Geoff, as a character who 'lives' at the steamworks, knows the Skarloey Railway engines well enough to tell when one of them is feeling down, but not well enough to know about the Duncan/Carlin connection. Hence, his questioning of Ivo Hugh and Duncan provides a means to launch into the flashback. The other main difference from the comic is that the episode opens with Duncan correcting Ivo Hugh's use of the euphemism 'passed away', which occurs on page 6 of the original comic. Again, this change was made to facilitate the flashback structure of the narrative. Given that Duncan had been feeling down about Carlin's death, it was only natural that this would be when Geoff would notice something up with the little engine. The other changes were mostly minor. These included Thomas passing when Duncan was making his remarks about the TV show (and looking annoyed), and a bit more detail about Duncan's repaint. Characters * Skarloey * Rheneas * Duncan * Ivo Hugh * George Carlin * Geoff * Tornado (does not speak) Trivia * This was the first episode of Sodor the Modern Years to be produced and completed. Category:Sodor: The Modern Years Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 STMY